, 1887-05-26
THE NEW SOUTH.
How II Owes Much Of Its Present Boom
to the jews.
Special correspondence

tNltNt'NI thIItSlh'il,itIlCti
SAVANNAH, Ga, April t.
The new south owes much of its present
prosperity to those princes of commerce the
Jews. At the close of the war they were
quick 10 see that grca: change had :, ready
begun III the planting AMI marketing of cot
ton. In slave times the planter dealt directly
with his factor. Lit L. or no cotton was ham
died at the interior towns 1t was raised on
biz plantations and went to market i'll hig
lots. When slavery was destroyed the de-
structiuI of this system begun. The negroes
rented land arA raised cotton in small guam
titles, uu,l the small white farmer began to
make has appearance. The producers of a
few bales couldn't afford to market their cot
ton the large planters did. They needed
some one close at hand to advance them
money and purchase their crop. The Jews
saw the need and they r>punded to it With
n few hundreds or thousands of dollars they
located i'll the towns and villages, and at
crOsSroad points all over the cotton states, and
furnished supplies to the small farmers anu
took their cotton when it was ready for
market. They did, of course, Just what
all who were III their line of business did; that
is, they sold rs dearly rs they could and
bought aS cheaply. They made money rapidly,
and many of them i'll short time became
the wealthiest men i'll their respective COM
munitieS. And while they Were building up
their own fortunes they aided i'll building up
the fortunes of the Jews in the larger cities.
They naturally dealt with each other. The
Jews in the country bought from the Jews in
the cities, and the cotton collected by the Jew
country merchants went to the jew cotton
houses What has been the result. Why,
that the cotton factors i'll New Orleans
and some other ports which do the
largest business are Jews, the greatest and
richest merchant in Texas is n Jew and
the largest mercantile house in Georgia is
jew house. There is not a town or city i'll
the whole south, unless it I've some of the new
towns i'll the iron and coal regions, in which
the Jews have not u firm foothold. They are
gradually getting control of all the business
and are pushing themselves to the front in
every possible way.
No fault can he found with them. They
are good citizens, sober and industrious. They
do not raise disturbing questions and are
strangers in the police courts; and, although
the southern towns, where prohibition Is not
in force, are well provided with barrooms, it
would be difficult TO find Jew saloon keeper.
They handle all kinds of Intoxicating liquors
in a wholesale way, but they do not conde-
scend 10 deal it out in drinks over the bar.
A thing that is very noticeable is the
brightness of the Jewish children. 1t is e
common remark that they lead their classes,
and that they learn their lessons with greater
ease than Christian children. The reason of
their success at school is, doubtless, due to
two things namely: The strict training
they receive at home, being required to study
their lessons thoroughly there, and to their
general good health, which is the result of the
health laws they are compelled to observe.